Sony winding down Japan Studios

[Gizmo_Duck]

Looks like the rumors were true. It seems like Sony is slowly heading toward a more western gaming approach with the winding down of it’s Japan Studios.

The iconic developer behind Ape Escape, Gravity Rush and Knack has seen the vast majority of its development staff let go, the sources said, after their annual contracts were not renewed ahead of the company’s next business year, which begins April 1.

Localisation and business staff will remain in place and ASOBI Team – the group responsible for the Astro Bot games – will continue as a standalone studio within Sony Japan, it’s claimed.

Some Japan Studio staff will join ASOBI, we were told, while others have followed Silent Hill and Gravity Rush director Keiichiro Toyama – who left Japan Studio last year – to his new studio Bokeh.

People with knowledge of the matter told VGC that Sony Japan Studio simply hasn’t been profitable enough in recent years; the developer wanted to create games that appealed to the Japanese market first with hopes of having global appeal, while PlayStation wants the kind of global hits that its other first-party studios produce

It’s not entirely clear if the restructure has affected the studio’s External Development Department, which collaborated on games such as last year’s Demon’s Souls, but one person VGC spoke to suggested it would continue.

Sources: PlayStation is winding down Sony Japan Studio | VGC

 

[ORDER_66]

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Japan Studio’s was def Sony’s more inventive developers. Sad day that we will never get another ape escape or gravity rush

But i don’t think they’ve been very successful critically or commercially since the PS2 era.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

Beginning of the end....

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

Sony's de-emphasis in Japanese games has contributed heavily to my disinterest in the PS5. Oh, well. I hate the way this industry is heading anyway.

 

[Kingshango]

Ape Escape and Gravity Rush are over.

Bloodborne 2 dead.

The Silent Hill rumors looking mighty fugazi right now.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Beginning of the end....

Sony's de-emphasis in Japanese games has contributed heavily to my disinterest in the PS5. Oh, well. I hate the way this industry is heading anyway.

While I am disappointed that sony is killing one of their 1st party japanese divisions, we got to look at the history.

They made, Knack, Knack 2, Gravity Rush, Gravity rush 2, And The Last Guardian (which was in developmental hell for years), and published bloodborne and demon’s souls.

Their games for the most part haven’t been selling so it’s partly Japans fault for the re-focus

 

[-DMP-]

Have they produced any original games recently?

Seems they have been mostly a support studio to bigger studios.

Looks like this is just the confirmation of that.

Not a big deal IMO as long as ASOBI continues with astro bot.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Have they produced any original games recently?

Seems they have been mostly a support studio to bigger studios.

Looks like this is just the confirmation of that.

Not a big deal IMO as long as ASOBI continues with astro bot.

It seems thats the problem. Their games just aren’t making money. They are making games that appeal to japanese audiences but the japanese gamers aren’t buying them, and then it cost more money to localize them here and they still aren’t selling.


So it looks like they’re pretty much just going 3rd party since they opened up their own studios and the proof of concept will be whether or not they can continue to sell new IP’s on their own.

Or Microsoft can acquire them and see if they have better luck over there

 

[MeachTheMonster]

They’ve pretty much just been a support studio recently. I’m sure Sony can keep up the work they were doing without dedicating an entire studio to it.

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

While I am disappointed that sony is killing one of their 1st party japanese divisions, we got to look at the history.

They made, Knack, Knack 2, Gravity Rush, Gravity rush 2, And The Last Guardian (which was in developmental hell for years), and published bloodborne and demon’s souls.

There games for the most part haven’t been selling so it’s partly Japans fault for the re-focus

Nah, I can't give Sony an out on this. They sent those games out to die. They have too much of a focus on western titles and that has resulted in the neglect one of their most creative divisions. They did this with their Euro studios and now they're doing the same with Japan. This emphasis on big budget spectacle is hurting them elsewhere and that's going to bite them on the ass.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

It’s like the WNBA of Sony’s NBA. Do you keep the studio around just to satisfy a niche group of fans or do you bush them and put the money into acquiring more profitable developers, like Bluepoint?

A company isn’t gonna invest more money into trying to get a smaller company to become a big company the small company has to organically grow after they prove they can sell a game. Bluepoint did that, thus they get more money to make the next game. JS has been putting out high cost duds all gen.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Nah, I can't give Sony an out on this. They sent those games out to die. They have too much of a focus on western titles and that has resulted in the neglect one of their most creative divisions. They did this with their Euro studios and now they're doing the same with Japan. This emphasis on big budget spectacle is hurting them elsewhere and that's going to bite them on the ass.

This is like when rappers get signed to other rappers, and the rappers who signed them don’t post their albums on their social media. It’s like, would it have been helpful for them to dump more marketing into their games? Yes, would it have been more profitable for sony if those games still aren’t being reviewed well and performing well commercially? Not everything gets fixed with more money thrown at it

I remember sony did a lot to market Knack the first time around and it bombed still. I played Gravity Rush 2 at bestbuy and thought it was really cool, but it doesn’t have any real appeal to people here.

These are games that sell in the low 6 figures. Even a lot of big named japanese developers are making games for american audiences, like square enix and Capcom.

If. Japan is moving into a more mobile market then the audience may not really be worth appealing to anymore in this scope.

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

It’s like the WNBA of Sony’s NBA. Do you keep the studio around just to satisfy a niche group of fans or do you bush them and put the money into acquiring more profitable developers, like Bluepoint?

A company isn’t gonna invest more money into trying to get a smaller company to become a big company the small company has to organically grow after they prove they can sell a game. Bluepoint did that, thus they get more money to make the next game. JS has been putting out high cost duds all gen.

That shouldn't be *our* concern. We're consumers. We shouldn't be arguing for less. As far as Bluepoint is concerned, they're just a port-house without their own identity. Japan Studio had a bunch of sub-divisions, which helped out with a lot of PS development, including assisting other Japanese studios. Seeing two of the big names behind Bloodborne leaving does not bode well.

Please, Japan studios have been developing games (small A/AA titles) on shoe-string budgets for a while now.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Japan Studio had a bunch of sub-divisions, which helped out with a lot of PS development, including assisting other Japanese studios.

Which they will still be doing. The company isn’t completely closing down, maybe that wasn’t clear from teh headlines though

On the bright side, an Asobi team Ape Escape....